The invention relates to a dosimeter probe comprising a housing with two legs or straps arranged on the housing and a thermoluminescence detector accommodated in a recess in the housing closed by a polymer material enclosure which is fitted into the recess such that no light can reach the thermoluminescent detector within the enclosure.
In the medical field (nuclear medicine, x-ray diagnostics, interventional and surgical radiology) particle dosimeters are only insufficiently used because dosimeters are only insufficiently used because the thermoluminescent (TL) dosimeter probes available do not fulfill all of the requirements of the users. Particularly in the medical field the heads and extremities of the people handling the equipment can be subjected to substantial radiation exposure and radiation exposure in excess of the legal dose limits may not be recognized. These uses need small-size measuring probes which, even when worn under a surgeons glove, do not detrimentally affect finger mobility and which can be disinfected or sterilized. At the same time, the requirements of the German Regulations for Gauging Weights and Measures must be fulfilled and an evaluation of the measuring results must be possible in a simple manner by commercially available apparatus. Presently, there is only a limited number of types of TL particle dosimeters commercially available and they fulfill only some of the requirements. available and they fulfill only some of the requirements.
Fingerring dosimeters with encapsulated probes are also known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,157 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,505.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a dosimeter probe of the type referred to above wherein the detector is encapsulated in such a way that no light can reach the detector.